Rod-making apparatus

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns an arrangement for entraining a rod, particularly a tobacco-smoke filter rod of an extruded plastics material, in which means for gripping and guiding the rod comprises a haul-off device whose belt or tape engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter. The device may comprise a flexible belt and a tape in which the rod becomes temporarily wrapped while being entrained by the said belt. For entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, the haul-off device advantageously comprises at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, through which garniture the belt or tape or the belt and tape is or are conducted together with the rod.

United States Patent [1 1 Luke et a].

[4 1 Oct. 28, 1975 ROD-MAKING APPARATUS [73] Assignee: British American Tobacco Company Limited, London, England [22] Filed: Nov. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 418,455

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 193,253, Oct. 28, 1971,

abandoned. I

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 2, 1971 United Kingdom 51931/70 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1947 Davidson 93/1 C l/l962 Kessler 226/172 3,251,253 5/1966 Eubanks 226/172 X 3,345,917 10/1967 Agett et a1. 93/1 C 3,464,324 9/1969 Pinkham 93/1 C 3,566,753 3/1971 Mautke 93/1 C 3,774,508 11/1973 Berger et al. 93/1 C Primary ExaminerFrank T. Yost Attorney, Agent, or FirmKane, Dalsimer, Kane, Sullivan and Kurucz [5 7 ABSTRACT The invention concerns an arrangement for entraining a rod, particularly a tobacco-smoke filter rod of an extruded plastics material, in which means for gripping and guiding the rod comprises a haul-off device whose belt or tape engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter. The device may comprise a flexible belt and a tape in which the rod becomes temporarily wrapped while being entrained by the said belt. For entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, the haul-off device advantageously comprises at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, through which gamiture the belt or tape or the belt and tape is or are conducted together with the rod.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,915,075

US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,915,075

ROD-MAKING APPARATUS This is a division of application Ser. No. 193,253 filed Oct. 28, 1971, now abandoned.

This invention concerns improvements relating to rod-making apparatus. An object of the invention is to provide effective entraining means for a rod of a plastics material produced by extrusion, particularly a rod of a tobacco-smoke filtering material. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide entraining means which can be fitted to a rod-making machine of conventional design, especially a filter-rod making machine, and which can be linked at one end to an extruding device and at the other end to a cut-off device, which devices may be of conventional type.

According to the invention, in an arrangement for entraining a rod of an extruded plastics material or of a tobacco-smoke filtering material, means for gripping and guiding the rod comprises a haul-off device whose belt or tape engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter.

For entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, the haul-off device comprises at least the lower part of a gamiture of a filter-rod making machine, through which gamiture the belt or tape or the belt and tape is or are conducted together with the rod. In this case, the rod may be engaged from above by a haul-off belt with a recessed face while passing through the lower part of the garniture. Advantageously, means is provided for adjusting the height of the rod-entraining flight of the belt above the garniture lower part.

Alternatively, the haul-off device may comprise the upper as well as lower parts of a gamiture in which the gamiture tape becomes wrapped around the rod for entraining the latter. The upper gamiture part may be divided longitudinally into parts which are adjustable transversely in relation to the lower gamiture part.

Preferably, means is provided for adjusting the tension of the rod'entraining flight of the entraining belt or tape.

Ways of carrying the invention into effect will now be more fully described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a haul-off device,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a section of a preferred form of belt which may be employed in such a device,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustrating one mode of use of the haul-off device, and

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are a partial plan view and side elevation and a cross section, respectively, of a gamiture adapted to be used as a haul-off device.

The haul-off device shown in FIG. 1 comprises an endless belt 1 running around pulleys or sprocket wheels on shafts supported, on each side, by bearings in bearing plates 2,3. The plates 2,3 on each side are slidably mounted in slots 4,5 extending longitudinally of side plates 6,7 which are connected together to form a rigid frame by bolts 8. Each plate 2 or 3 can be adjusted longitudinally of its slot 4 or 5 by means of a screw 9 which passes freely through a vertical slot 10 in an end piece 11, fixed to the plate across the open outer end of the slot 4 or 5, and engages in a tapped hole in the plate. By this means, not only can the tension of the belt 1 be set and adjusted, but also its posi tion in relation to the frame comprising the plates 6,7. This frame is mounted by means of a bracket 6a which LII is fixed on the base or the lower part of the gamiture of a filter-rod making machine of conventional design, preferably a machine such as that manufactured by Molins Limited under the designation Mark V." The frame is located so that the operative lower flight of the belt 1 is located longitudinally over the lower part of the gamiture, the upper part being omitted or modified to permit engagement of the belt 1 with the upper por' tion of the usual tape, indicated at 12 at the exit end of the device, in which the filter rod, similarly indicated at 13, is temporarily wrapped during its passage through the gamiture. The said lower garniture part is not shown in FIG. 1, but is similar to the lower part of the gamiture to be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. To permit of vertical adjustment of the belt 1 in relation to the lower garniture part, the frame 6,7 is secured to the bracket 6a by means of bolts 14 passing freely through vertical slots 15 in the upright flange and engaging in tapped holes in the side plate 6. This verti cal adjustment allows of vertical setting of the operative lower flight of the belt 1 to suit the diametrical dimension of the rod 13 being formed. If required, adjustment of the belt transversely of the lower gamiture part may be provided for by a similar slot and bolt connection between the horizontal flange of the bracket 6a and the aforesaid gamiture base.

As will be seen most clearly at 16 at the exit end, the belt 1 has a concave outer surface so that its operative lower flight will engage closely around the upper portion of the rod 13, wrapped in the tape 12, and will entrain the said rod. The belt may be a rubber belt, in which case its outer surface is advantageously faced with a layer of plastics foam. material, such as a polyurethane or polyethylene material, for gripping and entraining the rod without damaging it. Alternatively the belt could be made from tubing of flexible material such as rubber. Preferably, however, use is made of a toothed flexible belt la (FIG. 2), suitably of the timex type, having welded or stuck to its outer sur face segments lb of a foam material, suitably one of the materials referred to above. The segments lb have the same pitch as the teeth of the belt 1a and are formed, on the side away from the said belt, with longitudinal recesses 16a of nearly semi-circular cross section for engaging around the upper portion of the rod. A belt of this nature will have positive engagement with sprocket wheels supported by the bearing plates 2,3 (FIG. 1).

The belt is driven from a shaft of the rod-forming machine. As diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1, the extended shaft 17 of the pulley or sprocket wheel supported by the bearing plates 2 is driven through a small toothed belt 18, suitably of Timex type, from a variable-speed gearing 19. This gearing, driven in turn from the machine shaft, may provide for variation of the speed of the belt 1 within a range of, say, zero to m/min.

The belt 1 is arranged to entrain the rod 13 in synchronism with the movement of the rod leaving the die of the device by which it is produced by extrusion. The drive, through the gearing 19 may be automatically controlled, by way of a servo motor, so that it coincides with or is co-ordinated with the rate of delivery of extrudate from the die of the extruding device. An arrangement for this purpose is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3. The rod 13 is conducted from the die 20 through a tube 200 ofa material having high thermal conductivity, for example copper or aluminium, by which the rod becomes cooled as well as being kept straight. Alternatively the rod may be carried upon a wire-mesh belt of such high-conductivity material. The aforesaid servo-motor is controlled by signals from a continuously acting circumference-monitoring gauge head 21 preceding a synchronously driven conventional cut-off device 21a which divides the rod 13 into required lengths in well-known manner. Such gauge heads are commonly used in cigarette manufacture and a head of Solex type is suitable. With the arrange ment described, variation in the rate of extrudate delivery is detected as a variation of circumference of the filter rod 13.

As an alternative for the haul-off arrangement of FIG. 1, use may be made of the arrangement of FIGS. 4 to 6 in which there is no separate haul-off belt 1 and the garniture is adapted so that its tape 12 serves to entrain the rod 13 and thus act as a belt. The lower part 22 of a conventional garniture having the usual tapeguiding surfaces indicated in FIG. remains unmodified, but the upper part is replaced by two slightly separated cheek plates 23 each of which is clamped to the part 22 by two or more bolts 24 which pass through transverse slots 25 in the said plates and engage in tapped holes in the part 22. The plates 23 can thus be adjusted transversely of the path of the rod 13 so as to ensure sufficiently close wrapping engagement of the tape 12 around the rod for effective entrainment of the latter. FIG. 6 illustrates the wrapped condition towards the exit end of the garniture. The radius of curvature of the inner arcuate surfaces 26 of the plates 23 is made slightly greater than the nominal radius of the rod 13 to ensure that at least line contact can be obtained for rod which is slightly over or under size. The garniture tape 12 is made rather wider than is normal in a filterrod garniture. The arrangement of FIGS. 4 to 6 may be used in conjunction with driving and control means, in this case applied to the drive for the tape 12, and/or with extrudate-delivery means such as have been described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

If required, the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 3 or FIGS. 4 to 6 may be utilised also to enclose the rod 13 in a paper strip, in which itremains wrapped, in well known manner.

By way of a specific example of the use of the invention, filter rod of high-density polyethylene foamed ma terial of circular cross section with a diameter of 7.8 mm was taken from a rod-extruding device by an arrangement substantially as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. The belt 1 was faced with a strip of polyurethane material and was driven at a speed of 30m/min. The rod was fed to a cut-off device by which it was divided into 90mm lengths.

Arrangements such as have been described above may be used for rods composed of or comprising a variety of plastics materials, including, in particular, not only open-cell types of extruded-foam thermoplastics materials such as polyethylene or polypropylene or nylon materials, but also other foam materials, such as cellulose acetate, which can be extruded. A suitable rod material is of the kind set forth in British Pat. No. 1,182,646 (Monsanto Chemicals Limited).

While particularly intended for rod of solid circular cross section, the invention may also be applied to rod of hollow cross section and to rod of other crosssectional shape.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for handling a relatively freshly extruded hot, soft deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder and of a tobacco-smoke filtering plastics material during filter manufacture, comprising a relatively freshly extruded hot soft, deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder, transport means for gripping and guiding the continuous extruded rod without damage and deformation to the rod including a haul-off device in the form of an endless flexible member which engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter without the application of an undesirable amount of pressure, the haul-off device also including at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-making machine, through which garniture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the continous rod, and a cut-off device, directly following the said haul-off device, driven synchronously with the haul-off device for dividing the said rod into lengths.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the haul-off device comprises a flexible belt and a tape in which the rod becomes temporarily wrapped while being entrained by the said belt.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member has a recessed face by which it engages the rod.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1, for entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, wherein the haul-off device comprises at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, through which garniture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the rod, means being provided for adjusting the height of the rod-entraining flight of the said endless flexible member, above the garniture lower part.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member is a positively driven toothed belt.

6. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member is a segmented belt.

7. An arrangement according to claim 1, for entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, wherein the haul-off device comprises upper as well as-lower parts of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, and a tape which becomes wrapped closely around the rod in the said garniture for entraining the said rod.

8. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein means is provided for adjusting the tension of the rodentraining flight of the endless flexible member.

9. Apparatus for handling a relatively freshly extruded hot, soft deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder and of a tobacco-smoke filtering plastics material during filter manufacture, comprising a relatively freshly extruded hot soft, deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder, transport means for gripping and guiding the continuous extruded rod without damage and deformation to the rod including a haul-off device in the form of an endless flexible member which engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter, the haul-off device also includes at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-making machine, through which gamiture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the continuous rod,

becomes wrapped closely around the rod in the garniture for entraining the rod, the upper garniture part being divided longitudinally into parts which are adjustable transversely in relation to the lower garniture part. 

1. Apparatus for handling a relatively freshly extruded hot, soft deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder and of a tobacco-smoke filtering plastics material during filter manufacture, comprising a relatively freshly extruded hot soft, deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder, transport means for gripping and guiding the continuous extruded rod without damage and deformation to the rod including a haul-off device in the form of an endless flexible member which engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter without the application of an undesirable amount of pressure, the haul-off device also including at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-making machine, through which garniture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the continous rod, and a cut-off device, directly following the said haul-off device, driven synchronously with the haul-off device for dividing the said rod into lengths.
 2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the haul-off device comprises a flexible belt and a tape in which the rod becomes temporarily wrapped while being entrained by the said belt.
 3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member has a recessed face by which it engages the rod.
 4. An arrangement according to claim 1, for entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, wherein the haul-off device comprises at least the lower part of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, through which garniture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the rod, means being provided for adjusting the height of the rod-entraining flight of the said endless flexible member, above the garniture lower part.
 5. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member is a positively driven toothed belt.
 6. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible member is a segmented belt.
 7. An arrangement according to claim 1, for entraining a rod of tobacco-smoke filtering material, wherein the haul-off device comprises upper as well as lower parts of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, and a tape which becomes wrapped closely around the rod in the said garniture for entraining the said rod.
 8. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein means is provided for adjusting the tension of the rod-entraining flight of the endless flexible member.
 9. Apparatus for handling a relatively freshly extruded hot, soft deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder and of a tobacco-smoke filtering plastics material during filter manufacture, comprising a relatively freshly extruded hot soft, deformable continuous rod of selected predetermined shape directly from an extruder, transport means for gripping and guiding the continuous extruded rod without damage and deformation to the rod including a hauloff device in the form of an endless flexible member which engages around at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the rod for entraining the latter, the haul-off device also includes at least the lower part of a garniture of a filtermaking machine, through which garniture the said endless flexible member is conducted together with the continuous rod, and a cutoff device, directly following the said haul-off device, driven synchronously with the haul-off device for dividing the said rod into lengths, the haul-off device comprising upper as well as lower parts of a garniture of a filter-rod making machine, and a tape which becomes wrapped closely around the rod in the garniture for entraining the rod, the upper garniture part being divided longitudinally into parts which are adjustable transversely in relation to the lower garniture part. 